The first picture shows me on the rim of Taal Volcano, south of Manila, Luzon main island. It is filled with water at the moment, not lava, and surrounded by a fresh lake where locals have floating fish farms. The lake has a rare water snake that originally came from the sea when Lake Taal was connected in the geological past.



To get to the volcano one has to bargain with a boatman to get out to the island and then bargain again for a guide with or without a horse. The eroded and gullied slopes going up the volcano are not too steep but the guide rushes as he want his money and to get back to the lakeside for another group of tourists.

Anyway, on the way up we saw steam coming through the soil. That was special.

My travel friend picked up body lice from the sheets in a hotel beside the lake. It happened either here or in the hotel on arrival in Manilla, one day earlier. People in tropical Philippines do not see the need to launder the sheets and pillow cases in hot water. The hot will kill the lice and the mattresses should be vacuumed or flipped. Lice will die after four days away from a warm human body, without food or heat.

The little shy boy beside the stall has his hair cut short and this is common in Borocay island, another way to reduce head lice for children. This adorable boy was maybe 7 or 8 and spoke a bit of English. We praised him lavishly for this and gave him a small gift.

His family and others, like the mother holding her boy, rent small stalls to sell things to tourists and many live in the stalls.



Life is hand-to-mouth for many, as they do not own the stall or even the merchandise, but they are friendly and welcoming every day. How rare in our world, and so I will return. Many come here for work from islands further south, like Mindano, where most are Muslim and many sell cultured pearls from there. One woman fried me fresh fish we found in the market. I bought the oil and she kept the remainder in the bottle, a good bargain.

My friend Johnathan Mullock us squatting on Borocay Beach, with coralline sand, beside a small outrigger canoe. The floating outriggers on the sides, one or two at times, help stabilize the canoe at sea. They are fast and elegant, usually much bigger and with triangular lateen sails.

Notice the green in the water edge. This is green algae growing on Borocay beaches as this place is just too popular with tourists and some of the nutrient from sewage systems (septic tanks?) is seeping through the porous soils and into the seawater. Borocay officials collect a tourist environmental tax but not enough is being done with the money. We saw stinking pools of water and garbage beside the road, just in back of the busy tourist areas. These pools breed mosquitoes and possibly their diseases. Try to visit the windy side of the island. The beaches there are often too rough for swimming but are covered in an amazing array of shells. Shells are not supposed to be exported from the Philippines but the laws are widely ignored. Many types of shell animal are endangered. We went snorkeling over the reefs but I took no animals. Beware of the Crown-of-Thorns-Starfish. It has spines but also a toxin. My finger tip ached for a long time.

The handsome boy in the restaurant with a cool T-shirt is the son of the owners. He helps waiting on tables when he is not at school.

Maybe he is 12 years old and he picks up English and other words from tourists.The native language is Tagalog an Austronesian language, while English is a mix of Germanic and Latin and Galic language, etc. By learning English while the islands were dominated by the US the people learned a skill that help them move all over the world. What do you think of children working? Maybe this boy will run the restaurant in a few years and so he should learn the business. His father likes him to learn from tourists.

Borocay imports most of the food from other islands so the restaurants are a little pricy. Can you find Boraocay on a map? It is very small, and is beside which much bigger island? I miss the Philippines and must see more. The people are wonderful and living is inexpensive. Luzon is cool in winter but the islands to the south, like Mindora, are warmer. There is much to do and see, and ways to help.